Algeria: Ex-militant group leader wounded in blast

Published August 14th, 2007 - 16:20 GMT

A former Algerian Islamist leader Mustafa Kertali has been seriously injured by a car bomb in Larba, 25km south of the capital, Algiers.

A former Algerian Islamist leader Mustafa Kertali has been seriously injured by a car bomb in Larba, 25km south of the capital, Algiers. According to press reports, his car went off after he had attended morning prayers at his local mosque.

Kertali, who was evacuated to intensive care, worked with various armed groups during Algeria's civil war until a 1999 peace accord, after which he disarmed. According to the BBC, he became a backer of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The report suggested the latest attack may have been the work of active Islamists who consider Kertali a traitor for giving up the fight.

Born in 1946, he was elected FIS mayor of Larba in 1991. After the military banned FIS, he joined the Armed Islamic Group in fighting the government, becoming an emir. In late 1995, however, he left it - motivated, he claimed, by its atrocities, and objecting to the new leadership of Djamel Zitouni.